As Lovers
by MMBC
Summary: A series of very quick standalone mini-fics on Gray and Natsu's relationship. Will be spontaneous and will be updated on a sporadic basis. Gratsu
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Mindless fluff without any real plot. I needed a little goodness in my life.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail and its characters.

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**Wandering Thoughts on a Sleepless Night**

As cliché, and cheesy, and, alright, maybe disgusting, as it sounded, Natsu couldn't decide how he liked Gray best. It was odd, really, because after however long they had spent fighting, why exactly had Natsu _liked _Gray?

It was a mere passing thought, and he dismissed it quickly as Gray turned and draped an arm over Natsu's torso.

Nights like these, it would be a waste to ponder too deeply, when Gray was asleep before him and he was left to his wandering mind. It didn't happen often, but it happened, and Natsu would take this time out to properly appreciate what he had. And he _did _have it. Gray, he meant. Same thing, his property, his Gray.

As he traced the lightest tip of finger along the vague line between Gray's brows, Natsu remembered the times when they were furrowed. The fights were fun, and he liked Gray like that, lively and fierce and powerful all at once.

Yet looking at him now, features soft and relaxed for once in a while, Natsu couldn't help but admit that he liked this Gray better, bare and unprotected under his layers of ice put up against the world. All the same, though, any Gray was his Gray. Angry Gray, passionate Gray, crying Gray, and smiling Gray calling his name with a twinkle that lit dark eyes the colour of the sky. Natsu knew he had Gray's everything.

'Natsu?' Bleary eyes blinked open, the trace of annoyance at being woken up quickly giving way to weariness. 'What's the matter? Why aren't you asleep?'

At that Natsu merely shook his head, because there was no word to describe how he felt at having those sleepy eyes directed at him in that trusting manner. In this room, beneath the silver moon, there was only them in the distinct absence of the need to put up a farce for the world. And Gray, Gray was glowing in that soft light like a damn god, and, fine, Natsu was a cheesy idiot, but there was no way he'd get a word out when Gray was leaning on his elbow and reaching out to touch Natsu's cheek in that uniquely gentle way of his.

'Why are you crying?' And then there was a thumb swiping ever so tenderly over a lone tear that Natsu hadn't even been aware had escaped.

It was strange, really, because Salamander Natsu wouldn't cry even when he was shoved six feet into the ground, but Natsu Dragneel, the lover Natsu, would, on quiet nights like these, with nothing to threaten or sadden him. There was just _something_ that touched his inside, and all of a sudden he couldn't help but cry because he loved this man _so much_.

That was why he had smiled, eyes leaking like a child all over again, and leaned over to lay a chaste kiss over pale, pale lips. Maybe it was out of gratitude. Or maybe it was out of something that he couldn't name, only that it was warm and it kept his heart quivering in that endless ocean of tenderness.

'Nothing. It was nothing at all.'

He could taste rather than see the tentative smile on those familiar lips. Gray, _per _Gray, would not probe. Yet he would smile, because, oh, alright, he knew that Natsu loved smiling Gray the best. And it was with the same knowledge that Gray pulled Natsu close, a hand in his hair and a mouth whispering sweet nothing into his ear. Nights like these, Natsu needed a little closeness, because if he was left to his own devices, his mind would keep wandering in circles and it would be the lost kid Natsu all over again.

Too much passion could do that to a person, he supposed. Yet, as the repeated 'it's alright's and 'let's keep fighting tomorrow's and 'stay with me like this's rumbled between their twin bodies, Natsu could feel his passion calmed into that trickle of warmth that rubbed sleep in his eyes like nothing would. Gray's voice. Gray's hand. Gray's body. All his – and on these sleepless nights there was no one but Gray to find Natsu with his low soothing voice and his caring hand on his head.

It was fine, the thought flitted across his mind before sweetness claimed him, because wherever he drifted to, Natsu stilled liked his Gray most of all.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Thank you all for reading, faving, and reviewing; I appreciate every word of encouragement from you. Enjoy the new chapter.

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**The third time is the charm**

The first time it happened, Natsu had been an emotional mess and Gray had been too deep in denial to admit just what it was he was doing, so it didn't count.

It had been right after Lisanna's supposed death, and Natsu was languishing in self-blame. The bloody idiot. Like he could have prevented it in the first place. Then again, that wasn't the point. The point was that Natsu was suffering; he refused to eat or sleep, and took on camping out at Lisanna's grave for days on end.

No one had said anything, because the guild hurt when a member of it was hurt, and it hurt more when a member of it wallowed in agony so harsh it burnt. That was what Gray did at first, nothing. Yet, after the fourth day had passed, it became unbearable to him.

At that point in his life, Gray hadn't been as close as could be to Natsu, the fights between them teeming with more enmity than their current friendly brawls ever could be. And yet, despite his distaste for the slanty-eyed moron, he couldn't help but feel Natsu's sorrow gouge a hole out of his young heart.

Perhaps that was why he did what he did then – he sought Natsu out as the other boy was still kneeling before Lisanna's grave, body wasted and an empty look in normally vibrant eyes. The scene had stabbed Gray like a knife to the heart, and he had cursed himself for not coming here sooner. Why it had hurt so much then, he hadn't understood, and probably hadn't paid the mind to understand, either. All that Gray knew in that heart-breaking moment was only that he had to get Natsu away from there, and beat the light back into those defiant eyes. If he didn't, they might as well just lose Natsu, he thought.

That, in turn, was why Gray had come close, past hatred forgotten as his arms wound around the broken boy. In hindsight, perhaps the way he had failed to be disgusted by the distinctly unmanly gesture toward his rival should have alerted Gray to his feelings deep, deep down. However, it did not, and that was the end of the matter, at least until they revisited it much later on. Right then, though, all that mattered was how Natsu felt so much colder than he usually was, and that had scared the shit out of Gray, because, hell, if Natsu wasn't burning Natsu, then what was Natsu at all? That single thought had been what drove Gray forward.

He leaned forward and kissed Natsu on the cheek, just like how Ur had kissed him and Lyon.

It wasn't the smartest thing to do then, he knew it now. Lisanna probably had done that to Natsu in the first place, and the kiss could have triggered so much worse. Thank the gods, the only thing it triggered was a violent jump, before Natsu turned and sent Gray tumbling with a surprisingly powerful uppercut.

As the rain started to pour about them, the look Natsu had worn on his face was forever burnt into Gray's mind like hot iron to the flesh. Eyes wide, that furious glint back in those pupils again, Natsu was back just like that, and though he hadn't looked any better, Gray had been ready to prostrate himself and pray to whoever out there that listened to him at last.

'I hate you, Gray.'

It was the only thing Natsu had said in days, before he got up and left. And for what had felt like hours after that, Gray had imagined that the rain was hot on his face.

The first time definitely didn't count.

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The second time it happened, it had been a showdown about romantic prowess, so it didn't count, either. Probably.

Natsu, like the moron he was, started it first.

'Like hell you have more experience than me! I'm a man too, remember?'

'Not trying to say you're a girl, hothead, though that'd probably suit you with your _pink _hair. Regardless, have you even kissed?'

'Hah, just because you don't get laid doesn't mean no one else does. For your information, _I _have, so kissing is child's play!'

Gray had to raise an interested eyebrow at that. Who would've thought. It seemed as though he had grossly underestimated Natsu. Still, it had been entirely possible that the idiot was merely puffing.

'So, one-night stands, huh? Heh, didn't peg you as the type, flame brains.'

'Fuck you, who says anything about one-night stands?!'

'I don't see you have a girlfriend with you, though. You sure those encounters weren't just wet dreams?'

Natsu sputtered, and for a moment his face lit up brighter than even his flames. And then, without a single warning, he jumped Gray.

It was more of a violent attack than a romantic activity – maybe it was violent because it _was _an attack. However, despite how rough it had been, the only thing that registered in Gray's stupefied mind was that Natsu's lips were warm and chapped, and his tongue was hot and powerful, just like the rest of him was. There were teeth involved, and suddenly Gray found that his lip split, the coppery tang of blood exploding on his own taste buds, accentuating the exotic tinge of sunlight that was Natsu. Distinctly, he could hear the sound of Natsu slurping the blood up, before his tongue swept up to delve into Gray's mouth again.

It was another fight of sorts, Gray realised, and after he had gotten over his initial shock, he retaliated by showing Natsu just what exactly a good kiss should be like. He lightly bit on the foreign tongue in his mouth and held it there, refusing to let Natsu back up, before languorously sucked it in deeper. His own tongue moved slowly to stroke Natsu's in a sensual fashion as his hand came up to cup Natsu's fuzzy soft cheek in an almost loving manner. Just like that, the pace slowed to Gray's control, and the snarling fight between them became something resembling a lover's tryst.

This was how it was supposed to be, Gray thought, a moan threatening to bubble out of his throat, but not nearly soon enough to smother Natsu's groan of, dared he say it, pleasure.

Yet, before he could do anything else, Natsu had pushed at his chest harshly, and they separately as abruptly as they had begun. The strange thing was, despite Gray's every expectation, Natsu was not angry. No, on the contrary, he had appeared… flustered, the furious blush on cheek threatening to put the sun to shame. And for the first time in a very long time, ever since that first unfortunate incident, Gray felt his heart twist again in something he dared not name.

'So, wet dreams, it was.' To cover up his own bewilderment, of course Gray had to leer like a pervert and drawl in the most annoying voice he could.

Never one to disappoint, Natsu had jumped him again for a real brawl.

Alright, for that brief moment it had felt almost like a real kiss, maybe the second time it happened, it should be counted as _something_ at least, right?

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Gray was glad that what people said about the third time being the charm was not that far off from the truth.

He had been on one of those quests that went awry that no one ever talked about. Things happened that, well, he didn't want to talk about it, so he wouldn't. The short of the matter was that, Gray was a month late coming home from a supposedly three-day quest, and when he was back, Fairy Tail had already sent out several search parties for him. The quest had taken him so far up north, that for that whole month no one could find a trace of him. When he was home at last, it was all Gray had wanted to do to roll over and just die in peace, his entire body wracked by exhaustion.

That was before Natsu got wind of his return, of course.

Gray was in the courtyard before his house when it happened. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see a flaming fist flying his way, and for a second after that, everything went black, before he opened his eyes again to find himself knocked against the wall, a murderous Natsu right in front of him. Rubbles were chaffing against his bare back, and it was all too tempting to just close his eyes again and go into a much needed coma.

'Where the fuck have you been, bastard?!' Natsu, of course, would have none of that. A hand was roughly yanking Gray to his feet by the shoulder – if he had worn a shirt it would undoubtedly have been fisted in the collar, although Gray was surprised Natsu didn't go for his neck. 'Answer me! Do you know how worried we have all been, fucker?!'

'Yeah, yeah, look,' But Gray was just too tired to deal with Natsu right then, 'I'm sor…'

'Do you know how motherfucking worried _I _have been?!' To his utter shock, Natsu had cut in, before pulling him forward into an iron hug. Okay, one, Natsu Dragneel did _not _hug Gray Fullbuster, no matter the circumstances; and two, Natsu Dragneel did _not _admit that he was worried about Gray Fullbuster, _ever_. To say that Gray was stumped would be the understatement of the century; he had felt like the earth was pulled underneath him into a vacuum that left him almost swooning.

Then, as abruptly as it had started, the embrace ended. Natsu shoved him away, before turning as though to run away.

Later, Gray would often wonder why or how he had pulled Natsu back, because, frankly, he was running on empty there. However, pull Natsu back he did; a hand around his wrist and a full-body snap later, they were sprawling on the ground amidst the rubbles, Natsu on top of Gray, his back pressed to Gray's bare chest, through which violent trembles passed like quakes from the bottom of their hearts. Quiet hiccups could be heard, and Gray wound his arms about Natsu's chest to just hold him there, exactly like he had perhaps occasionally dreamt. As the initial shock wore off, a smile crept its way up Gray's lips, and despite all the pain his body was screaming from, the foreign warmth that spread in his chest finally chased away the pain he never realised he had been feeling every time Natsu had hurled hurtful insults at him in their fights.

'Bastard.' Natsu repeated as a drop of warm liquid trickled down the side of his neck, before landing on Gray's shoulder. Gray pretended it was raining all over again, like that day so long ago when the rain had been warm and tasted like salt on his own lips.

'Yeah. I'm sorry.' He replied, just as quietly, before rolling to the side to turn Natsu to face him, ignoring the sharp rock that dug into his ribs.

He didn't know who started it this time, but as he gazed into those shining eyes and inched closer, Natsu was holding onto him like a lifeline, too, a hand on his bruised cheek and bodies pressed so close together he could feel the shuddering thump of Natsu's heart. The kiss was soft, hesitant, like they were unsure of what they were doing, before one of them grew in confidence, pressing more firmly, lips moving in tandem over each other, slotting together so perfectly it could have been pieces of the same puzzle falling in place. It was slow and filled with longing of a lifetime that neither had realised until that moment, touches shy and desperate at the same time. It made Gray's insides ache with sweet satisfaction like nothing he had experienced before.

'Shit. Just, don't disappear like that again, you hear me?!' When the kiss ended, Natsu was hotheaded Natsu again. However, that was fine with Gray, because the fourth kiss was fierce and filled to the brim with concern and sudden relief, and the fifth certain of passion that bloomed before either of them knew it.

The only thing after that that Gray remembered before passing out from the emotional rollercoaster and physical strain, was that Natsu's lips were made for Gray's, full and sensuous as though in compensation to the thin of Gray's own, and the kisses burnt a trail straight into his heart. It was breath-taking, just like the whole of Natsu was, so much so that in that moment, it was Gray who had felt like crying.

The third time was indeed the charm, but Gray had lost count of the number of kisses after that.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Again, thank you all so much for reading. This is just another completely irrelevant and unorganised AU piece based on the song Million Roses. Suggested music to go with it: Zigeuner Weisen.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the song Million Roses.

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**Artist**

Natsu watched as the long-fingered hand lifted the violin up in that almost loving manner that never failed to steal the breath away from him, the way practised elegance easily slid the instrument into place sending a glitch to his throat. He swallowed and imagined the sound too loud in the sacred silence of the auditorium. And then, like a drip of dew from some delicate morning petal, music spilled forth.

It was a strange feeling, like he was floating in a limbo as his heart thumped once, twice, before sinking to the short pause between the notes. Without his realising it, the people about him had blurred into indistinct blobs of grey and white. On the stage, the only thing that stood out was Gray Fullbuster, a perfect contrast of pale skin and ebony hair. Eyes tightly closed, his dark eyelashes fanned against white, white cheeks, fluttering to the ebb and flow of the music, he was a study in beauty, because even though he was a man, Gray Fullbuster was _beautiful_. However, what drew Natsu's eyes the most was the violin, a spot of colour on the stark black and white of Gray's person. Or, to be more accurate, the white of Gray's long fingers on that dark brown as he stopped and stroke the strings as he would the skin of a lover. An almost non-existent shift of his fingers, and the note trembled as though a cry was torn out of the instrument into the great tragedy playing out. Natsu's insides quivered in sync with the shudder of the music, and his heart cried as the music cried, while on stage Gray stood in his ethereal glory, the white of his skin and the black of his hair hurting Natsu's eyes, so much so that he fancied he was crying real tears.

What a foolish man he was, Natsu Dragneel. Perhaps he thought he was a hopeless romantic who could sell his lovely house on the edge of town to buy a beloved artist a million scarlet roses - no, that was not what he thought, though he had come close to it on occasion. It was a hopeless affair, adoration from afar with no hope of reciprocation that spelled nothing but heartbreak in the end. He knew that very well. And yet, like an addict his drugs, Natsu Dragneel had spent how much money he could not remember to come back to each and every one of Gray Fullbuster's performances in town. A man, as familiar as a stranger on the other side of the world could be, and yet, as though he had casted a bewitching spell on Natsu, he was powerless to rid himself of this obsession.

He really was a fool. Gray Fullbuster was the god, the creator, the centrepiece of his own tragedy, and Natsu its hapless protagonist. Or he was no more than the cowardly stalker that never worked up the courage to even come near the man, despite the throb in his heart to just _reach out and take him_. A carved icy rose every day, he left at Gray's room in the back of the theatre, and still it never was enough to express how his adoration for this man was the sole reason he breathed. Maybe if Gray could just stay here, Natsu would be willing to leave him a frozen rose every day till the number reached that million and nothing would be left of Natsu Dragneel but a wisp of mist, the ashes of his heart burning for this man.

The poignant melody entered a new frenzy, Gray's pale finger flying over the strings in a blur, and Natsu fancied the earth was pulled away beneath his feet. Thin lips pressed together into a harsh line, Gray looked as though he was in pain, but Natsu knew it was pleasure, the height of his ecstasy translated into furious music. It was true, though, for music was Gray Fullbuster's everything, the lover that accompanied him on a lonely night, the gentle embrace to fall back into, the very reason why he walked the earth. Natsu almost envied Gray's music, except that he, too, was so far lost in it he never knew which way was out anymore. Lost in the only lover his beloved had eyes for. What a joke it was, and how grand it was, too, for he could feel another piece of his heart fell away into dust while his spirit throbbed with the roaring of Gray's soul, thundering in the crest and fall of the piece.

Gray inhaled a last breath, and his whole being came alight, as though wings sprouted from his back in that very moment, threatening to take him to the far heavens to which he belonged. An angel, he was, yet a cruel one nonetheless, heartless in his innocent ignorance. Natsu's life seeped from him like sand through gaps between fingers as the music faded into nothing. And as colours returned to his world, Gray's brilliant blue eyes opened to sweep over the crowd, unseeing of the wreckage he had left behind. But of course, Natsu thought, a resigned smile stealing upon his lips. He was the stranger half a world away, anyway. It was probable Gray thought the roses for him had been from a bashful lady. There was nothing to it, though, because Natsu was the dragon ensnared in the trap of his own greed, Gray his beloved treasure. A grand tragedy, indeed.

And so Natsu would keep dying in this man's potent love, hoping against hope for the day he could leave Gray his millionth icy rose.

He clapped, all the while dying a little more inside.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: Thank you all for your support thus far. This new chapter is, again, random fluff (in response to pre-release season 4 Game of Thrones madness) (Can you imagine? It's called A Song of Fire and Ice. Cracked me up every time). The ideas for the song do not belong to me.

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**I Loved a Man Fair As Summer**

Natsu grumbled as he dumped the armful of firewood into the ring of stone he had arranged. Gray, like the lazy bastard that he was, wasn't helping. Arsehole. He was leaning against a tree with a blade of grass between his lips, blowing a mindless tune that wasn't quite a melody. It would have made Natsu smile, except for the fact that it was _Natsu_ who was gathering wood for the last haft hour.

He grumbled again, before blowing a stream of flame to ignite the camp fire. It was just Gray and him this time, Erza, Lucy and Wendy having gone on one of those 'girl's missions' together, and Natsu wondered why he was letting himself be whipped like a hen-pecked husband like this. Oh, right, because he had proposed to Gray first, the sly bastard. _Like that made him the ice princess for real! _His mind helpfully supplied.

He was about to convey to Gray how exactly he felt about this situation, because, lovers or no, they were on a _quest_, granted, a finished quest – but that still didn't give Gray the right to treat him like a servant, dammit! – when the quiet stream of words reached his ears.

'I loved a maid fair as summer...' Gray was singing, voice low and tender, the sort of voice only Natsu had been allowed to hear on rare occasions. Like now. There was a smile in his eyes, the way he looked at Natsu as though all the gentleness in the word was concentrated in Natsu' rough being. All the same, though, it stole the breath away from him, as it has never failed to do. Just like that, Natsu forgot his snarky insults in favour of drowning in Gray's private little world. Not fair.

'I loved a man fair as summer...' He changed the lyrics, a spark of amusement in the depths of blue eyes now, and Natsu, like a snared dragon, abandoned his fire to drift to Gray's side. It was natural, and it was irresistible, the timbre of his voice rumbling in the quiet rustling of the forest.

'The sun in his breath and honey his hair...' When he was close enough, Gray reached out a hand to pull him in. For a split second, Natsu thought of resisting, before his instincts took over and he plopped down at Gray's side like the puppy he was. Heh, ridiculous, he knew, but if Gray would just keep singing in that voice of his, Natsu was willing to be his lapdog if only for a few more moments.

'But I'm just a black bear on the way to a fair...' Was that a tinge of sadness in his voice? Natsu had to wonder, before he decided that he didn't like it. So he leaned over, impulsive and insistent, and the song temporarily died on Gray's lips.

The wind picked up, and his fire danced in its stony ring, the crackling coming from far away. Then the melody revived in his head, playing over and over, as he kissed his Gray with all the ardour and affection he couldn't express through a song. 'I loved a man fair as summer, I loved a man fair as summer, I loved a man fair as summer...'

'I love a man fair as winter.' Natsu said, and his heart filled to the seams with warmth threatening to burst out of him into roaring flames. Instead, he pushed Gray down, the white body pliant underneath him tonight, and so, so willing it almost hurt. A long-fingered hand reached up to card into his short locks as Gray cradled the side of Natsu's face in his palm.

'So I licked the honey in his hair...' The thumping of Gray's heart under his fingers was steady, one, two, three, the song humming into infinity. Natsu dove down to take a lock of Gray's fringe between his teeth and nuzzled it aside, getting drunk on the taste of clean hair and the cold of fresh snow.

'And danced with the man once in the fair.' Gray finished, his voice drifting off to the black of the clear summer sky. And it was fine; he didn't need a damn song to know Gray's wishes. Natsu would just move to kiss those pale lips, letting his hands dance over the fair of Gray's body, and then Gray would be singing another song tonight. Natsu's favourite song.

_I loved a man fair as summer, I loved a man fair as summer, I loved a man fair as summer..._

Gray mouthed something incoherent against his neck, and Natsu smiled for real this time. If this was what was in store for him, Natsu was willing to let Gray be the ice princess all he wanted. The thought flitted by quickly, before the sly bastard finally stole that away from him with a cold and soft, soft touch.

_I love a man fair as winter_

_I love a man fair as winter_

_I love a man fair as winter..._


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: I have no excuse – this plotless snippet is a response to the surge in my fangirlism upon seeing the cover page for the newest chapter of the manga. Thank you all for reading, faving, following, and reviewing. QueenXyrielle: I will try to continue chapter 3 at some point. In the mean time, here's something happier. Enjoy.

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**How to snap Natsu Dragneel**

Natsu was used to taking photographs of drop-dead gorgeous models, and yet he still almost dropped the camera at Gray's new pose.

'Oi! What are you doing, stupid?'

Only reflex made him remember what to say while pretending to adjust his hold. 'Don't call me that. 'S not like you're that intelligent, ice block.'

'Then stop fumbling like an idiot. You're wasting my time.'

By the gods. Gray was saying that, and yet he remained in the same position, eyes staring up from under thick lashes, a small smirk gracing his features. The hooded cloak draped from the top of his head, over broad shoulders, covering the hands on them. Only his arms crossed over his chest were visible, and damn if it didn't look provocative as hell. This man _knew _what he was doing, what with canting his hips just that lightest bit to the side, the skin-tight boxer-briefs clinging to the way every muscle moved under that ivory skin.

'Ah. Uh, yeah.'

Was that a 'come-hither' look? It must have been. Natsu felt as though there was an invisible force drawing him irresistibly to the man in front of him, as if Gray was a siren and Natsu just another hapless sailor powerless to stop the seduction. But this wasn't even a song; it was just a look. With the right amount of intensity, suddenly Gray's gaze was piercing directly into his trembling soul, and all Natsu could see back was burning desire reflected in those blue eyes. Natsu could _feel _his insides turning to water.

Only the force of routine kept Natsu going through the motions of adjusting the lens and taking the photos, but he wasn't even sure he knew what he was doing. Then Gray subtly changed his pose, and Natsu's throat instantly went dry on him.

'…'

He should have been encouraging Gray on while furiously snapping shots with the satisfaction of a photographer privileged enough to have the perfect model who knew _just _what to do. Instead, Natsu's mouth opened and closed uselessly, flapping like a fish out of water when Gray merely tilted his head up and looked _down _at him with lowered eyelids. A pink tongue slipped out to slowly, torturously, swipe over his bottom lip in a drawn-out display of temptation.

'As I said, stop acting like an idiot and keep up with your job. That was a damn good shot that you missed.'

'…' Wordlessly, Natsu swallowed, before lifting his camera up again. He even forgot to quip at the name-calling, what with the way Gray's hands were tightening on his shoulders, before sliding down in that languorous caress he just used with his tongue. Those hands were _magic_, how they slid oh-so-slowly over his biceps, cupping his elbows for the briefest of moments, before continuing onto his sides. His fingers brushed against his ribs, and then his arms uncrossed, and those hands were running over his abs, one just grazing the cross-shaped scar at his side. Down and down they went, and when they stopped at the hipbones jutting out beneath the black of his underwear, Natsu could hear vaguely in the distance the sound of a camera crashing unceremoniously to the floor.

'And now you just ruined the entire photo shoot. Also, you'll have to either fix that, or buy a new camera altogether.'

'Uh. Um, yeah, sure.' Natsu was sure he had possessed a brain with the ability to speak at some point, before Gray fried it with the most sensuous blink ever. The bastard wasn't even irritated. 'Sorry.'

'Sorry? You ruined _my _photo shoot.' The minx before him faked a scoff, before the cloak slid away from his head and fell to his feet with a barely audible thump. The light hit his body fully, and a thumb hooked into the rubber band of his underwear, and suddenly the stark contrast between his snowy skin and the black piece of clothing became too much for Natsu. He took an involuntary step forward, imagining himself getting rid of that annoying contrast by ripping the black off.

Gray's smirk widened. He lifted a hand, crooked a finger in Natsu's direction, and delivered the last blow.

'So you'd better make up for it.'

There was nothing to it – the photo shoot was over, and he was pretty sure it played out just as Gray had planned it to, the bastard – so Natsu obeyed and pounced.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's note: Thank you all for reading and reviewing; I deeply appreciate your support. Here's another one of those moods that don't make sense that I wrote just for the heck of it. Deliora, really? Damn, go ahead and give me the angst I want! Ahem. I mean, sorry about that, and enjoy the chapter.

DreamscomeTRUEEE: Thanks so much for your praises – I'm so flattered by your kind words I think I might die of embarrassment. Akuma no Uta: Thanks; if you play the violin, you're a star to me. Go Vivaldi!

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**I'm just looking for a dying wolf**

The summer sun beat down on his back, and the dirt road beneath his feet burnt. Another blister on his foot broke, leaving behind a faint trail of blood, yet forward and forward Natsu lurched, the unshed tears in his eyes burning worse than the pain in his feet.

'Have you seen a dying wolf, good sir?' He asked a passerby on the sun-drenched road.

The man shook his head and moved on, and on Natsu moved.

'_Another moon, Natsu, and then I can be human. We'd live together forever and for ever more, and then for even longer after that. Before that, though, if you so much as see me in my human form, I'd die forever a wolf.'_

Over the golden fields he traveled, on and on, with the blue sky opening before him and the indigo mountains fading behind each thud of his footsteps. On the roadside the daisies bloomed yellow like little spots of summer, yet all Natsu could see was shaggy black fur that blotched against the fresh snow of winter, and a soft warmth that burnt deep into his heart.

'Have you seen a dying wolf this way, madam?' He asked an old woman walking the opposite way.

Clop, clop, clop, her cane hit the hard ground, and on she moved.

'_But I don't _want _to wait!' Young Natsu used to say._

_The young wolf made a frustrated sound and bobbed Natsu on the head with a great paw._

'_What part of "we'll have forever together" don't you understand?!'_

_Young Natsu had pouted, before tackling the wolf to the ground with arms held tight around his shaggy neck._

'_Promise me you'll still be there when I turn seventeen?'_

_Stormy blue eyes twinkled, and the wolf licked his assent across Natsu's happy laughter._

'Have you seen a dying wolf anywhere, Mister Huntsman?' He asked a huntsman with the carcass of a doe slung across his shoulders.

'No, but the forest is just ahead.' The huntsman said, and away he went.

And then there was only Natsu on the road, the afternoon sun casting a long, long shadow that trailed after him in his forlorn quest for that which could not be found.

'_What have you done?!'_

_The fair young man before him had that familiar mane of shaggy hair, but within stormy blue eyes only despair and pain resided._

'_I… I'm sorry! I couldn't help wanting to see you in human form. Please, Gray, I'm sorry. Don't go away.'_

_But Gray only shook his head. With a pained cry, the young man fell sideways. When he stood up again, he was once more a wolf, stormy blue eyes plaintive and moist. _

_Even limping, the wolf was faster than the weeping Natsu._

The forest greeted him with an abrupt expanse of trees and gnarled roots. Branches extended their bony claws in courteous invitation, ever ready to keep Natsu forever in their cruel embrace. Overhead, the canopy was so thick that even the glaring sunlight was blotted out. Natsu's shadow died away, leaving him all alone once again to weave his way into the dark forest.

And so he weaved, on and on he weaved, between great spider webs and clawing branches, over rotting logs and the carpet of dead leaves that soaked up his blood as though thirsting for more. Once, he stepped on a sharp rock covered underneath the leaves, and from then on the forest floor had more to drink with each step he took. Still, Natsu kept walking, far and deep into the darkness, until suddenly the sky opened above him into a starry stretch of velvet of summer end.

'…tsu.' Faintly, before him, there was a noise, so Natsu turned and looked.

And there he was, the great black wolf in his shaggy mane of fur, although stormy blue eyes were now devoid of any familiar twinkle. Gray leaned heavily against the trunk of an ancient tree as though he was basking in the sunlight of an early morning a lifetime ago, only this time the only thing he was basking in was the grasps of broken magic. He blinked, once, twice, before that soft noise echoed again.

'Natsu.'

Natsu moved without knowing he was moving, and then he was at Gray's side, arms wounding around the shaggy neck to never let go.

'_A curse, sweetheart, such that star-crossed from forever are separated till forever by a pelt of wolf skin.'_

'_Separated?' Young Natsu looked up from his recline against the wolf's warm, warm side. 'How? We're together even now.'_

'_And may we be together for ever more.' The young wolf touched his forehead to Natsu's with what may have been a sad, sad smile, and suddenly he had felt like crying for no reason._

'I'm seventeen, and you are still here.' He whispered against the pelt of wolf skin that had been separating them in a forever of laughter and light, only to end up together in bittersweet memories and a lifetime worth of regrets.

The wolf blinked again, before the light in his eyes went out in the rush of a sigh. Seventeen years, and they should have been together when the curse broke. Instead, all they had, was a piece of broken magic that drew them together like a moth to flame. Slowly, his eyes slid shut, so Natsu held on tighter to what warmth that was left him.

He was so tired. The long walk had taken all his strength; the sun had burned the life out of him; the forest had sucked the lifeblood from his aching body. Only, now it wasn't aching anymore. He was warm, and lying with his head against the wolf's shaggy side. It was all Natsu had ever wanted.

'I found the dying wolf, only he's not dying anymore.' He told no one in particular, before the strength to even open his mouth left him at last.

'_And may we be together for ever more.' _

Natsu closed his eyes and let sleep claim him at last.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: Again, thank you all for reading. Please find a compilation of a lot of short stories in one big picture (although the preceding chapters are real standalones; I just couldn't help but rip my own ideas off). Enjoy.

AsDarknessSpreads: Thank you for supporting me thus far. By prompt for the Silver-Gray stuff what do you mean? I'm open to taking prompts, if that's what you meant…

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**To measure your worth**

In one of the first times, they were nemeses. It was not even the friendly rivalry that they sometimes entertained in the place of a deeper something that could have been, but a pure, unadulterated feud that never failed to result in blood.

'Tell me where she is, Gray, and I'll let you go, I promise.'

The alley floor reeked of piss and other questionable activities, but right then it was the least of Gray's concerns. Natsu stood over him, tall and indomitable, the hand on the sword at Gray's throat not shaking in the slightest bit. Above, the sky was opening, and then liquid hit his face is a pitter patter of a cold, cold autumn storm. It reminded him of Juvia's laughter, though, a soft tinkling like the rain on glass, or like bells on a sunny day.

'Last chance, Gray. I won't ask again.'

The sword pressed more persistently against his throat, and then red was joining the steady stream of rain off his face. 'Natsu', he wanted to say, but then Gray remembered what the man before him was going to do to Juvia whose laughter tinkled like bells, so he said 'Fuck you' instead.

Gray pretended that the water wetting Natsu's cheeks was something warmer than rain, before his world crashed down about him in the lightest press of a razor blade, bringing with it the regrets of the could-have-beens of a lifetime.

.

Other lifetimes, Gray was less fortunate. He was just wrapping up for the day as they brought the new patient in, something about saving a girl who ran into the street.

'We don't have anyone else!' Juvia, this time an ER nurse, said.

There was nothing to it but to accept the case. 'I'll have to apologise to Natsu for standing him up again', he thought. His boyfriend was going to pick him up for a fancy dinner.

And then the patient was pushed in front of him, still in a tuxedo pressed sharply for something big about to come to pass.

Somewhere in the distance, his clipboard crashed with a noise so muffled Gray was not sure it was _his _clipboard that had crashed.

The head wound was still bleeding, so the man's hair was more red than pink. And yet, and yet, it was Natsu alright, only ten shades paler and some hundred times less energetic.

'We don't have anyone else', Juvia said again, a sympathetic hand on his suddenly numb arm.

It was all that Gray could do to nod. 'I'll save him', he said, more for his own sake than anyone else's, 'Dear God, I _must_ save him.'

But God was dead and destiny was a bitch – that, or Gray was just plain incompetent when it mattered the most. It was so close; Gray was so close to finishing the surgery, his hands still steady despite the mad dash his heart was trying to perform, when the line on Natsu's heart monitor stuttered once, twice, before going flat.

No amount of effort could bring it up again, and then Gray was going numb, watching in slow play as they shook their heads and pulled the cover up over Natsu's pale face. 'Wait', he wanted to say but couldn't find the words, 'I still have yet to kiss him goodnight.'

Later, much later, as he sat with his back to the operating room's sterile wall, the blood of his boyfriend drying on his hands, Juvia entered to finish him off in that unfalteringly kind way of hers.

'We found this in his trousers' pocket.' She said, before leaving the box with the velvet linings in his useless hands.

Gray couldn't remember much after that except for the crash his world made when it shattered into a million pieces.

.

There were numerous lifetimes, too many to count, too much heartache to remember. Most of the times, Gray remembered. However, there are also lifetimes when he forgot. Gray counted those his lucky lives, when all that he felt was a strange sense of déjà vu when the flash of pink hair and a cheeky smile brushed by, before he moved on with his life, feeling empty but not so wretched. Sometimes, it would be admiration from afar, watching as the masked hero saved the world even as he went about his own mediocre business. Other times, it was a face in a sea of faces, and Gray remembered feeling strangely familiar yet further than a world away from something important that he had forgotten to his grief.

The last note trembled when his heart shuddered out its last remnants of inspiration. Gray opened to his eyes to sweep over the crowd attending his concert, and then sure enough, the strange man with pink hair was there, a wistful smile on his countenance.

Something 'twang'ed inside his heart, like the sound a string makes when it snaps and cuts the fingers caressing it bloody.

'Weirdo', he had thought, realising that this was the fifth of the same concert that this man had gone to. 'Lies, lies, lies', something else whispered, 'you forgot, forgot, forgot…'

Gray brushed the thought aside, unwilling to let such a trivial thing interfere with his love – Gray had his music, and he had thought it would have been enough to last him that lifetime and the next.

.

Of course, Gray had been wrong about that. His cycle of lifetimes continued, on and on and on to infinity. Or maybe it had all been just a very elaborate dream, his or Natsu's, he wasn't sure which, only that it was always a game of hide-and-seek and cat-and-mouse between them.

'_Have you seen a dying wolf, good sir?'_ He had dreamt. He dreamt of the golden field, the gleaming summer sun, a flash of a smile and eyes brighter than the rest of the world. It had been so warm back then, Gray missed it.

'_Have you seen a dying wolf this way, madam?' _

Gray dreamt – or remembered – the boy who had been attached to another boy who had been turned into a wolf. The wolf wanted to reach out for the boy, to curl around him in a blanket that buffered him from the cold, white winter. They were separated by a pelt of wolf skin, however, and this he could not breach, so the wolf could but keep on dreaming his wolf dream.

'_Have you seen a dying wolf anywhere, Mister Huntsman?' _

It made Gray smile recalling that bright-eyed boy who had clung to his shaggy neck, calling his name over and over again. 'I'll still be there, you know; I've always been there.'

He woke with tears on his cheeks.

.

Over and over, the cycle got old, and Gray cursed and cursed. He was never getting out of this damn cycle, he knew, so it would only be futile to wish he could. Still, at times, it was wish Gray did. It was all because Natsu would not remember; he never remembered, and there was no point in telling him if he did not know it.

The bells tolled, ding-dong ding-dong, and a white wrist lifted, as white as the wedding veil fluttering in the spring breeze. The magnificent bouquet flew up to the middle of the clear blue sky before landing in the hands of an ecstatic girl-friend. Somewhere in the crowd, wolf-whistles could be heard.

'How did I look, man?' Natsu grinned at him, ever so clueless, ever so cruel, and Gray grinned back.

'A waste for the pretty Lucy.' He replied, ducking from the friendly fist flying his way. Laughter rang, pure and platonic, and they came together for a group photo, him standing beside Natsu. Black and white, best man and bridegroom, they were a perfect pair, and yet nowhere near as perfect as the whites of the beautiful bride and the lucky groom.

'Thanks, man, really. Also for your two cents on the tux.' Natsu had said afterwards, happier than Gray had ever seen him in this lifetime.

'Any time, pinky. Now go enjoy your honeymoon and hope Lucy won't wear you out too much.' Gray laughed and again dodged the outraged fist, all the while trying and failing to paste the pieces of his heart together on the inside and promising himself, 'in the next life.'

.

But the next life came and went, and so did the one after, and the one after that. The two of them danced on the hand of fate like a pair of bona fide idiots, one stuck and one none the wiser about the great conundrum they were trapped in.

'I'm tired of this shit, you know.' Gray said when he was floating in the white limbo that lingered between one life and the next. 'Hey, answer me if you're out there. What do I gotta do to get outta this crap?'

No reply came back, so Gray closed his eyes in preparation for just another lifetime of hopeless waiting. If he were lucky, he'd probably forget.

.

It was only a long, long time after that that Gray understood the meaning of this absurd game fate was making him an involuntary player of. After the numerous times he had watched Natsu's back as the man inserted himself between Gray and death, one of it being in the shape of the demon Deliora, he finally, _finally_ realised that Natsu had managed to remember. Not on a conscious level, perhaps, but he remembered all the same. All the times that their lives had brushed against each other, no matter how swift, they had left their marks on each other's being. And like slow ember, the marks burnt deep and persistent, until they rekindled into a wild fire neither was able to extinguish.

This time, it was Natsu who had that wistful look in his eyes, like he had been yearning for something for a long time but could not remember. It gave Gray hope, and made him despair when the image of Natsu's battered form overlapped with a million images from before, Natsu lying on a stretcher bleeding his life away with a ring box tucked in his pocket, Natsu watching him from afar longing for something he could not have for a lifetime, Natsu forgetting and finding happiness in another person leaving Gray the ever best man, Natsu, Natsu, Natsu…

Gray had remembered telling himself it would be his last try – should he fail, Gray would give up on waiting and let the void in his soul stay unplugged for the rest of eternity. A guy could only take so much heartbreak.

'Hey, flamebrain. I love you. I always have.'

Unlike how he had imagined it, the confession came out sure and confident, if crude or without an ounce of romance in it. Well, Gray _did _have a literal eternity to practise, after all, for the little good that did him. That was not the point, however, because like he said, he came to understand the deeper meanings of the world from what came next, when Natsu tried to murder him and was crying all at once. The look on his face afterwards, with all the snot and the drying tear tracks etched over that brilliant grin only one person had managed, was the most beautiful in all the lifetimes Gray had spent watching Natsu.

As he held Natsu that night, something within the very fabrics of Gray's world moved, slotting into place like pieces of a long-lost puzzle. Gray had a feeling this time was going to work out somehow, because everything was worth it to see how they finally belonged together. No more feuds that inevitably result in blood, no more wayward children needing to be rescued from rushing cars, no more curses to separate a pair of star-crossed destined to be together from forever, they were going to be alright together.

'Hey, your thinking's too loud. I can't sleep.'

Morning sunlight filtered through the dust on the glass panes of Natsu's window, hitting his head in a halo that had Gray's heart stopping for a second within his chest. Natsu frowned blearily up at Gray, before sighing in his mock-exasperated way that belied fondness.

'What the hell are you thinking about so early in the morning?'

The answer came to him all too naturally. 'You, of course. It's always been you, idiot.'

Gray enjoyed the simple pleasure of watching Natsu colour up, his mouth flapping uselessly before breaking into a grin that did nothing to hide the watery quality of his eyes.

'Aww, someone's being sentimental. Should I call you princess?' He said, but Gray shut him up with a kiss, and Natsu obliged in that uncharacteristically tender way of his that never failed to make Gray want to cry a little himself.

Yeah, they were going to be alright, Gray thought, because thiswas worth it, all of it.


End file.
